(KJV) Esther 61

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⥃Mordecai Is Honored

[1] On that night2 could not the king sleep3, and he commanded to bring the book of records4 of the chronicles; and they were read before the king. [2] And it was found written, that Mordecai had told of Bigthana5 and Teresh, two of the king’s chamberlains, the keepers of the door6, who sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus. [3] And the king said, What honour7 and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this? Then said the king’s servants that ministered unto him, There is nothing8 done for him.

[4] And the king said, Who [is] in the court9? Now Haman was come into the outward10 court of the king’s house, to speak11 unto the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him. [5] And the king’s servants said unto him, Behold, Haman standeth in the court. And the king said, Let him come in. [6] So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king12 delighteth to honour? Now Haman thought in his heart, To whom13 would the king delight to do honour more than to myself? [7] And Haman answered the king, For the man whom the king14 delighteth to honour, [8] Let the royal15 apparel be brought which the king [useth] to wear, and the horse16 that the king rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head: [9] And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that they may array the man [withal] whom the king delighteth to honour, and bring him17 on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim18 before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour. [10] Then the king said to Haman, Make haste19, [and] take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king’s gate: let nothing fail20 of all that thou hast spoken. [11] Then took Haman21 the apparel and the horse, and arrayed22 Mordecai, and brought him on horseback through the street23 of the city, and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour.

[12] And Mordecai came again24 to the king’s gate. But Haman hasted to his house25 mourning, and having26 his head covered. [13] And Haman told Zeresh27 his wife and all his friends every [thing] that had befallen him. Then said his wise28 men and Zeresh his wife unto him, If Mordecai29 [be] of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely30 fall before him. [14] And while they [were] yet talking with him, came the king’s chamberlains, and hasted to bring31 Haman unto the banquet that Esther had prepared.

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  1. Esth 6:1, Ahasuerus, reading in the chronicles of the good service done by Mordecai, takes care for his reward; Esth 6:4, Haman, coming to sue that Mordecai might be hanged, gives counsel that he might do him honour; Esth 6:12, Complaining of this, his friends tell him of his final destiny. ↩

  2. Esth 5:8; Gen 22:14; 1Sam 23:26-27; Isa 41:17; Rom 11:33 ↩

  3. Heb. the king's sleep fled away, Dan 2:1, Dan 6:18 ↩

  4. As chronicles were composed among the Persians, a more instructive and interesting work could not be brought before the king; because they were all written in verse, and were generally the work of the most eminent poets of the empire. Esth 2:23; Mal 3:16 ↩

  5. Esth 2:21, Bigthan ↩

  6. Heb. threshold ↩

  7. Judg 1:12-13; 1Sam 17:25-26; 1Chr 11:6; Dan 5:7, Dan 5:16, Dan 5:29; Acts 28:8-10 ↩

  8. Gen 40:23; Ps 118:8-9; Eccl 9:15 ↩

  9. Prov 3:27-28; Eccl 9:10 ↩

  10. Esth 4:11, Esth 5:1 ↩

  11. Esth 3:8-11, Esth 5:14, Esth 7:9; Job 5:13; Ps 2:4, Ps 33:19 ↩

  12. etc. Heb. in whose honour the king delighteth, Ps 35:27; Isa 42:1, Isa 62:4-5; Jer 32:41; Matt 3:17; John 5:23 ↩

  13. Esth 3:2-3, Esth 5:11; Prov 1:32, Prov 16:18, Prov 18:12, Prov 30:13; Obad 1:3 ↩

  14. etc. Heb. in whose honour the king delighteth, Esth 6:9, Esth 6:11 ↩

  15. etc. Heb. Let them bring the royal apparel, wherewith the king clotheth himself. 1Sam 18:4; Luke 15:22 ↩

  16. Herodotus relates, that the kings of Persia had horses peculiar to themselves, which were brought from Armenia, and were remarkable for their beauty; and if the same law prevailed in Persia as in Judea, no man, under the penalty of death, might ride on the king's horse, any more than sit on his throne, wear his crown, or hold his sceptre. 1Kgs 1:33 ↩

  17. Heb. cause him to ride ↩

  18. Gen 41:43; 1Kgs 1:33-34; Zech 9:9 ↩

  19. Dan 4:37; Luke 14:11; Rev 18:7 ↩

  20. Heb. suffer not a whit to fall, 2Kgs 10:10 ↩

  21. Ezra 6:13; Isa 60:14; Luke 1:52; Rev 3:9 ↩

  22. Esth 8:15, Esth 9:3 ↩

  23. Pitts gives a similar account of the mode of honouring a person who turns a Mohammedan, at Algiers: "The apostate is to get on a stately steed, with a rich saddle and fine trappings. He is also richly habited, and has a turban on his head, but nothing of this is to be called his own; only there are given him about two or three yards of broad cloth, which is laid before him on the saddle. The horse, with him on his back, is led all round the city, which he is several hours in doing. The apostate is attended with drums and other music, and twenty or thirty serjeants. They march in order on each side of the horse, with naked swords in their hands. The crier goes before, with a loud voice giving thanks to God for the proselyte that is made." ↩

  24. Esth 2:19; 1Sam 3:15; Ps 131:1-2 ↩

  25. 2Sam 17:23; 1Kgs 20:43, 1Kgs 21:4; 2Chr 26:20; Job 20:5 ↩

  26. Esth 7:8; 2Sam 15:30; Job 9:24; Jer 14:3-4 ↩

  27. Esth 5:10-14 ↩

  28. Gen 41:8; Dan 2:12 ↩

  29. Gen 40:19; 1Sam 28:19-20; Job 15:24; Dan 5:26-28; Zech 12:2-3 ↩

  30. Job 16:2; Prov 28:18; Hos 14:9 ↩

  31. Esth 5:8, Esth 5:14; Deut 32:35-36 ↩